A Christmas Story 10K 2017

The past couple years I have gone back and forth on whether I want to run the Reindeer Run or A Christmas Story 10k. Ideally, I want to run both but currently, one of these races occurs on Saturday and then the other occurs on Sunday and my legs can’t handle racing back to back days anymore. This year, I decided to run the Christmas Story 10K.

I have been slowly getting faster again and been happy with the turkey trot results so I was eager to see where I would be for the 10K. And although I was feeling faster, I was not feeling anywhere near PR ready. It’s important to race for what your body is actually ready for, not for what you ran once months or even years ago.

I made one mistake and warmed up with Ryan and one of his super fast elite friends. We were all talking and I didn’t realize how fast we were going. A 3 mile warm up at a 7:38 pace…oops.

When the race went to start, I tried to ignore how fast I did the warm up in. The warm up was pretty close to the pace I had wanted to run so I didn’t to get into my own head. Overall, I was hoping to keep my pace around a 7:20 pace.

Mile 1 – 7:19

The first mile has a bit of uphill which I kind of like because it keeps me from going out crazy fast.

Mile 2 – 7:24, Mile 3, 7:25

Close to my goal pace but not quite there but if I could stay in this zone I would be happy. No matter how many times I look at the course map for this race, I always end up getting confused. All the sudden we were at the house! If you are running the 10K, you run to the Christmas Story House and then back to the start but if you are running the 5K, you end at the house. Which I believe included a heated tent area a beer this year.

Mile 4 – 7:27, Mile 5 – 7:28

This might be the most consistent I have been with paces while racing. Not quite my goal pace but close enough. I think it was around mile 5 I started to really feel it and had to really fight for my pace. There were a couple turns and some uphill and I started to feel like sludge.

Mile 6 – 7:29

Feel like sludge but still kicking! I never once felt like I gave up, even though it was getting tough near the end of the race.

Finished in 46:19, a 7:28 overall pace and fourth in my age group. My garmin had the overall distance at 6.23 so that is pretty legit for a 10K.

I was really happy with this time, even though it was not 100% what I was aiming for. I just felt really good while racing and like I was running smart paces. Hopefully this will continue into 2018!

(Apparently I was really busy this day and didn’t take a single photo!!!!)

About Me

30 something wife, doxie mom and runner from Cleveland, OH. I am a marathon maniac, Boston Marathoner and an Ironman! I have completed 16 marathons (17 if you include the Ironman) and am an Official Blogger for the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon. I am also a proud ambassador for Nuun
I also enjoy traveling, my Croatian heritage, playing tambura, baking, reading, hangig out with my amazing husband Ryan and our dogs Bodhi & Bandit.
Contact me at: MojaMala2blog@gmail.com